STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Staten Island small businesses should get a toll discount on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, Assemblyman Michael Cusick said yesterday.

In an effort to help spur the borough's economy, Cusick (D-Mid-Island) said he will introduce legislation next session calling on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to give business owners here a toll break when their company vehicles cross the Verrazano.

He also said employees of Island businesses would get a break under his "Staten Island Business Discount" legislation.

Cusick said local businesses looking to hire are often stymied when off-Island job applicants point out the undue burden of the high toll on the V-N, and the hit their salaries would take.

View full sizeWestbound traffic on the Staten Island Expressway, just beyond the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge toll plaza. Incessantly rising bridge tolls are hurting small businesses on Staten Island, and now there's a proposal to give them a break. (Advance file photo)

He said he is researching how much of a discount would be practical and possible. He said he did not know whether it would reflect the current residential toll discount.

"These are tough times for everyone," said Cusick. "We are cognizant of that."

Cusick said the idea came out of a recent discussion with Staten Island Chamber of Commerce officials, who are always on the lookout for new businesses and new hires.

"We are at a complete disadvantage when we go to recruit," Chamber President and CEO Linda Baran told the Advance.